We Meet Chris Martin (no not that one)

Chris Martin is a stand up comedian and writer; he’s best known for his acclaimed shows at Edinburgh festival, his TV appearances alongside comedians like Jack Whitehall, and most recently his solo tour. CUB caught up with him to talk the tour, the downsides of travel, and dogs.

How is the tour going so far?

The tour is going good, the shows have all been really fun, just driven a lot of miles on my own. I’ve had my dad with me for some of it though, had to share a room with him, he snores. But still, good to have the company. I did a show the other day and two guys went to the toilet together 5 minutes before the end so I got the whole audience to run out of the room and hide, so when they came back, I thought they’d be really baffled but for some reason they just sat and drunk in the bar on their own, finished their pints. Guess they normally drink in the dark.

You’ve been performing at Edinburgh festival for a few years now, what would you say is the best thing about working there?

You can walk to the gig everyday which is amazing. The non-boring journeys and lack of travel sickness is pretty great. The audience there is different. You’re at a festival surrounded by other comedians so I guess they’re constantly comparing you. The crowd there can be two ways, they can be amazing because they’re so on the ball, but they can also be pretty brutal, whereas on tour generally people are just there because they want a laugh. But both are great.

How did you get into comedy?

I just always loved it when I was younger, loved watching it on telly, and I just decided to give it a whirl when I went to uni, started doing a gig at my university, running one in halls. Now I mainly do stand up, but I also have my podcast with Carl Donnelly, and they’re just really different. Stand up is where I make my living; the podcast is just for fun, we get to chat. But I like the fact that I don’t have to leave my flat, (well shed… I live in a shed), to do it.

Who else in the comedy world would you like to work with?

Louis CK has been very inspirational, he does his own thing and he’s awesome. Bill Murray, I’d love to work with Bill Murray- who wouldn’t? When I was younger I used to love Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, always been pretty fascinated by American comics. As you get older your taste in comedy definitely changes. Now I just really like watching a lot of my peers.

Where is the best place you’ve ever performed?

Hammersmith Apollo. It was the biggest gig I’ve ever done, 4500 people so it was pretty special, and I used to walk past it on the way to school.

One thing we should know about your comedy?

I don’t like dogs. I think that’s important to know.

If you fancy seeing Chris perform head over to www.chrismartincomedy.co.uk to find out about upcoming dates and tickets. (Bethnal Green Backyard Comedy Club on the 14th of November is only a fiver!)